Obama Loses - 2.8 Days Later

Perhaps to a fault, there is a great amount of emotional investment in the result of the November 4th American presidential election. A wounded liberal America and Democratic Party have been resurrected by an unpopular Republican president and a failing economy. Disenfranchised and cynical minorities and younger voters have been inspired by Barack Obama’s rise. A world that saw America in a negative light during a disastrous Bush Administration fawns over Obama and is poised to change its mind.
With a week left until Election Day and a significant lead for Obama in the polls, how would people react if Obama still lost?

November 7, 2008 – The American public reached a near-chaotic state of polarization yesterday as it attempted to understand and react to the surprising and controversial victory of Senator John McCain in Tuesday’s presidential election.

African-American communities, left-wing groups and supporters of Senator Barack Obama rioted in major cities across the country. Claims of mass racism and conspiracy were seen on signs and heard in chants as tens of thousands in Chicago, Washington D.C. and Philadelphia took to the streets.

There was no masking their anger and disbelief at how Democrat Barack Obama could lose after being up ten points in the national polls. John McCain won the Electoral College with 277 votes to 261 for Obama after razor-thin wins in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida; all states Obama led in before Election Day.

Numerous reports of voter suppression and anonymous racially charged anti-Obama automated phone calls in key states have triggered many of their reactions to McCain’s victory. Campaign strategists and their legal teams have warred over the last two days as voters who were turned away from the polls testified for the media. In some Ohio counties, thousands of voters were reportedly refused the right to vote for various reasons, and counts are still being disputed.

African-American leaders who feared the effects of Obama’s race prior to the election have accused election officials and the Republican Party of race-based voter intimidation, as they did during the 2000 election aftermath in Florida.
“There is clear evidence that there was a systematic effort by forces opposed to Obama to stoke racial fears as well as dull African-American turnout,” said Reverend Al Sharpton during a television appearance.

Racial tensions were accompanied by political tensions, as liberal groups rapidly mobilized online to inundate the blogosphere as well as the mainstream media with evidence to support their claim of an organized conspiracy to steal the election from Obama. The evidence circulating included rumours of electronic voting machines rigged to choose McCain, unexplained voting delays in heavily Democratic counties, and the automated “robocalls.”

Some of the enraged groups turned to violence. One of the more radical anti-war groups confronted election officials conducting re-counts in Philadelphia, according to the Associated Press.

The democratic candidate vowed to contest the results, but attempted to calm his furious supporters. “Although this fight is not over, I strongly urge my supporters to conduct themselves peacefully, so as we do not lose sight of our goal,” said Senator Obama at a press conference in Chicago.

But some in the media were extremely pessimistic about the political ramifications. “This is a disaster,” claimed CNN analyst Paul Begala. “This is not only a bad day for America, but this could very well mean the destruction of the Democratic Party. They were handed this election on a silver platter and they still blew it.”

The sheer surprise of the election results has convinced some evangelical Christians divine intervention was at work. “Although John McCain has not yet proven he plans to do the Lord’s work, God has spoken and has struck down the idea of Barack Hussein Obama and his extremist reign over the Lord’s greatest nation,” said Televangelist Pat Robertson. He has drawn sharp criticism for his remarks.

Although the election saw the highest turnout of younger voters in decades, voting for Obama two to one over McCain, the results may have increased their cynicism. “Everyone feels like the system is rigged and they wasted their time,” said Sarah Saccany, President of the Ohio Young Democrats.

The United States’ image abroad may have also been hurt once again, with foreign media ridiculing American democracy yesterday as they had in 2000. Most of the reaction throughout the world appeared to see the result and particularly the potential of a Sarah Palin presidency as a definitive sign of the end of American global dominance.

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Alex Leduc is a freelance columnist and blogger, as well as a journalism student at Concordia University. All his political columns are available at www.alexleduc.com

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Kenneth Clifton

February 08, 2010 - 11:15

Several problems with your suggested story.
1. If there were riots, as you say, out of claims of racism...you're saying Obama's voters support him out of race not policy.
2. CNN would NEVER suggest the end of the Democrats party, since that is THEIR party by many polls of the station's demographics.
3. Many of our allies support McCain, unless you claim the international critics come from communist or terrorist countries. If that is your claim...no doubt.
4. Finally, recent polls from IBD, AP, GWU, and others put the national race at tied, and a tie or McCain lead in Florida and Ohio is recognized by almost all polling organizations doing recent polls.
Kenneth Clifton
--
www.2008jesus.com

Kenneth,
1. Many of Obama's African American supporters do support him because of his race. If he lost a race he was expected to win, theres no doubt many people would blame it on race.
2. Paul Begala would.
3. Obama has 60-90% support in Great Britain, Germany, Australia, and Canada, highly communist and terrorist countries. According to an Economist poll, McCain leads Obama only in 8 countries in the world, including Cuba, Iraq, Algeria, and Sudan. Im pretty sure there a bit of communism and terrorism in that list.
4. You can cherrypick polls to fit any argument. Real Clear Politics averages of all polls have Obama up 6 in Ohio, 2 in Florida, and 8 nationally.
P.S. Your website is terrible.

Response to response....
1. If they do support him out of race, they are racist.
3. Iran's leader, Chavez, and the Palestinians have all recently promoted Obama. Get a clue.
4. I wasn't aware that the Associated Press and Investor's Business Daily were all part of the conservative conspiracy. Apparently...that would include Zogby/Reuters/C-Span, also, since Obama lost 7 percent in their polls in the past 4 days.
Finally, your condemnation of my site is taken as praise (I'd hate to see the kind of a Christian site would garner your support). Anti-Christian bias noted.
Kenneth Clifton
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www.2008jesus.com